Jump to content

We Buy Any Car

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Mtaylor848 (talk | contribs) at 11:58, 5 May 2015 (Add File:We Buy Any Car dot com office, Asda, Middleton, Leeds (3rd May 2015).JPG). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

We Buy Any Car Limited
Company typeLimited company
IndustryAutomotive industry
Headquarters
Middleton, Greater Manchester
,
United Kingdom
Number of locations
160+ branches (2014) [1]
Key people
Noel McKee, Darren McKee
Revenue£315.1m (2010) [1]
Number of employees
330 (2014) [1]
ParentBritish Car Auctions
Websitewww.webuyanycar.com
We Buy Any Car office in Asda car park at Middleton, Leeds.

We Buy Any Car Limited is a used car purchaser headquartered in Middleton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.[2] It has branches in Great Britain, the United States the Netherlands and Germany.

The company was founded in 2006 by Noel and Darren McKee. In May 2010 the company expanded into the market of buying vans, through the brand webuyanyvan.com.[3]

In 2013, the company was purchased by BCA (British Car Auctions).

International Operations

In March 2011, We Buy Any Car launched operations in the United States. Its first branches were in Baltimore and Annapolis.[4]

In March 2014, We Buy Any Car launched in the Netherlands, headquartered in Barneveld with six branches nationwide.[5]

The company launched in Germany in 2015 in North Rhine-Westphalia initially with branches in Cologne, Duisburg and Dortmund.

webuyanycar.com is not in any way connected to Kar Land PTY who have been trading in Australia as webuyanycar.com.au and recently entered liquidation. In 2012, We Buy Any Car Limited launched an action via the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva against Kar Land PTY alleging that the domain webuyanycar.com.au had been registered and was being used in bad faith. The adjudication can be viewed at http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=DAU2012-0004. This action was not successful and webuyanycar.com continues to pursue other legal channels to protect its global brand reputation in Australia.

Advertising

We Buy Any Car is well known within the United Kingdom for its advertisements that make use of repetitive beats.

Marketing Magazine voted the TV advertisements the most annoying of 2011,[6] 2nd most annoying advert of 2010[7] and 7th most annoying advert of 2009.[8]

In March 2010 The Sun newspaper voted the advert the 'worst ad'.[9]

The TV adverts have led to numerous parodies including We Hatch Any Egg[10] and We Buy Any Cat.[11]

Research

We Buy Any Car undertakes regular industry related research.

In late 2010, it released research highlighting the reduction in car maintenance skills amongst UK males.[12]

At the beginning of 2011, We Buy Any Car completed research into the most commonly used car names; concluding that the most common car name is 'Betty'.[13]

In March 2012, through analysis of more than 410,000 cars purchased, webuyanycar.com discovered that in 2012 for the first time, more women than men sold second hand cars. It also identified that the current "average" car sold in Britain is a five-year-old Vauxhall Corsa with 57,000 miles on the clock.[14]

Corporate social responsibility

We Buy Any Car sponsors the charity Brake.[15]

In October 2012 it launched ‘See Me Stay Safe’ a campaign supported by Brake, to encourage children to stay visible as the days get darker. webuyanycar.com distributed 5,000 hi-visibility vests to 5,000 children from Chester before the clocks went back.[16]

Criticism

In March 2010 the Daily Mirror published an article that claimed the company offers people less money for cars than the original online quote.[17] Despite previously receiving positive recommendations from industry journalists,[18] in April 2011 the Office of Fair Trading investigated this and found some of We Buy Any Car's practices to be potentially misleading.

In April 2011 The Guardian published an article claiming We Buy Any Car offer just one in 25 the price quoted online[19] further damaging their reputation.

References

  1. ^ a b c "2011 Tech Track 100, Rank:25 We Buy Any Car". Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  2. ^ "webuyanycar.com Terms & Conditions." We Buy Any Car. Retrieved on 17 November 2011.
  3. ^ "We Buy Any Car Newsletter May 2010". Retrieved 17 November 2011.
  4. ^ "webuyanycar.com Launches in US and Chooses Baltimore and Annapolis for Initial Branches". Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  5. ^ "Britse online autokoperwebsite Webuyanycar.com vestigt zich in ons land". Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  6. ^ "Webuyanycar.com voted 'most irritating ad'". Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  7. ^ Wallop, Harry (12 January 2011). "Most irritating adverts of 2010: money saving websites". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  8. ^ "The most irritating ads of 2009". Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  9. ^ "Worst ads - We Buy Any Car". The Sun. London. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  10. ^ "We Hatch Any Egg". Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  11. ^ "We Buy Any Cat". Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  12. ^ "Men Dipsticks at Car Maintenance". Irish Independent. 31 October 2010. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  13. ^ "Poll reveals popular car names". Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  14. ^ Love, Martin (17 March 2013). "Volkswagen Golf: car review". The Guardian. London.
  15. ^ "Brake". Retrieved 21 November 2011.
  16. ^ http://www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk/index.php?/organisation-activities-2012.html
  17. ^ "We buy any car for less". Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  18. ^ John, Honest (29 July 2010). "Renault Clio Needs A New Home". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  19. ^ "WeBuyAnyCar offer one in 25 the price quoted". The Guardian. 1 April 2011.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=We_Buy_Any_Car&oldid=660934926"